Pot Is Not A Problem: Colorado Newspaper

Wednesday’s edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette contained the editorial “Pot, the nonproblem,” which called medical marijuana “the least-important, most-imitation crisis in years.”

“Colorado voters approved medical marijuana 10 years ago,” the editorial points out. “It’s in the state constitution, which trumps local authority. A constitution restricts the powers of government, and the Colorado constitution specifically prohibits government from impeding  the sale of medical marijuana.”

“That leaves room only for the reasonable time, place and manner restrictions applied to other businesses,” the Gazette editorialized. “It’s really that simple.”

Let’s not fool ourselves. Some doctors write medical marijuana recommendations for all who seek them, and lots of marijuana retailers are selling primarily to recreational users. Yet nobody can explain how that’s a problem.

Conversely, it’s easy to see how the Colorado constitution solves a serious problem. Eleven years ago, a recreational user could buy only from the criminal street dealer… Today, the recreational user can avoid the street thug and buy safely from a retailer who pays sales taxes and obeys existing time, place and manner retail regulations.

Graphic: thelondonfog.blogspot.com

​The newspaper also takes an accurate view of the supposed “problems” created by marijuana dispensaries, which hysterical anti-pot forces cite as a reason to close the collectives down.

[El Paso County, Colo. County Commissioner Sallie] Clark said: “If we wait any longer, we’re going to have more problems.”

Was Clark referring to social problems, such as traffic danger, raucous parties, crime, or loitering hippie freaks?

“I don’t think we’ve seen a lot of” social problems, Clark said, in response to a question from the Gazette‘s opinion department. “As far as I know there haven’t been any problems.”

In fact, county staff members told commissioners that they don’t have a record of a single complaint about medical marijuana. [Emphasis added–Editor] Not one person has called and asked for regulation. Not one person has called to complain of a problem associated with a buyer or seller.

The Gazette takes a view we haven’t seen very often — but which very may well be an accurate assessment of the situation on the ground in Colorado, and likely California as well.

Clearly, so-called “medical” marijuana has moved Colorado far in the direction of de facto full-scale legalization. Behold, it hasn’t caused problems. Nobody cares — not the Right, the Left, or the middle. Only those in government see this as a problem to solve.